An Unforgettable Experience: The Lieutenant Governor's Office

My journey into this 10-week internship and fellowship began back at the beginning of January this year when I got an email from my college telling me about the Maryland Public Service Scholars Programs . I mostly applied out of curiosity. I switched my major to political science in Spring 2022 and was unsure of what the next steps were. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, and I wasn’t sure exactly what I was passionate about yet. Thankfully, my experiences this summer allowed me to explore and grow, and this internship meant more to me than I can put into words.

Placement

This summer, I was placed in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Aruna Miller . To be completely honest, I didn’t know much about Maryland State Government at this point in my life. Since I was three years old, I grew up 15 minutes over the Mason-Dixon line in York, Pennsylvania. But over the course of this summer, I found Lieutenant Governor Miller to be one of the most empathetic, supportive, and positive leaders that I have ever met. In fact, the entire office truly took me under their wing. I was able to grow immensely as both a person and a professional. I adapted to better communicate and advocate for my needs and my interests, I gained confidence in myself and my intuition, and I learned first-hand what it means to be a truly great leader. A great leader isn’t the most powerful person in the room or the one who speaks the loudest or even the one with the best speech. A great leader listens, a great leader connects with others, and a great leader’s main goal is to help everyone and anyone that they can.

Exciting Experiences Galore

From day one, I had the unique opportunity to shadow staff the Lieutenant Governor at various events throughout the summer. I was able to attend a terrapin release on Poplar Island and visit the Second Chances Farm, both pictured below respectively. I also attended a human rights conference opening ceremony, a climate announcement by Vice President Harris at Coppin State, the Department of Agriculture Buy Local Cookout, and Bay Day on the Eastern Shore, among many others. These distinctive experiences to discover the many wonders of Maryland and network with leaders across the state will not be forgotten as arguably the most exciting aspects of the internship.

Within the office, there were numerous projects I worked on as well. In coordination with the Communications Director, Maddy Pawlak, I generated and updated a public events tracker for Lt. Governor Miller using Google Sheets. The purpose of this tracker is to record the events Lt. Governor Miller attends, where these events take place, and how frequently she visits each county and region of Maryland so the Office can make sure her time is spread evenly across the entire state. Additionally, in an effort to streamline the team’s scheduling meetings and schedule tracking progress, I reformatted the office’s Google Sheets Scheduling Tracker spreadsheet to align more closely with the Governor’s Office as well as the scheduling portal through which we receive requests. Other day-to-day tasks I was involved in included monitoring, sorting, and constituent response for the Lt. Governor’s official email; development of event briefs and memorandums; drafting event thank you letters; managing an audio tracker for the Lt. Governor’s speeches and interviews; and many more. I felt as though I was truly an integral member of the Lieutenant Governor’s team, contributing to and advancing the office’s operations and agenda.

Growth and Lessons Learned

I now have a much better grasp on the role of state government. I’ve seen that state leaders are able to really connect with their constituents, while still having the power to make real change and influence millions of people's lives. This internship has also helped me to better define and refine my political and public policy interests. I’ve always known that I have a passion for equality in education and foster care system reform, but now I have a better understanding that my interests in human services expand into housing inequality, substance use disorder treatment, and criminal justice. This internship has only solidified the decision I made when I switched my major to political science. I know that I want to help people - that I need to help people - that this is my passion. I am fully confident that a career in public service is the right path for me. Both this fellowship and internship have helped me understand myself and my identity so that I can better serve others in an equitable and empathetic manner.

To Our Future

I’m sure you’ve heard this time and time again but one of my biggest recommendations to future students is to unashamedly advocate for yourself your wants and your needs. This internship is supposed to serve you as well. You are meant to grow and learn in many ways from this experience. In my case, advocating for myself looked like asking my team members how I can best help them out or asking for flexibility in my schedule due to my commute. It looked like asking my team members if I could sit on meetings or attend events that I find interesting. Advocating for myself meant taking charge and control over my internship experience.

And to my future self, I say with confidence that no matter what you face, you can do anything that you set your mind to. Maybe that’s a little cliché. All I know is that I accomplished many great things this summer and that I stretched and challenged myself. I juggled a lot between several volunteer positions, the internship at the State House, the Maryland Public Service Scholars Fellowship, and simply reconnecting with my hometown friends and my family. I learned a lot about balance and prioritization in my life, which I will take with me in all my future endeavors. I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have this unforgettable experience.

Acknowledgments

I want to extend a special thanks to Lt. Governor Aruna Miller for being such an inspiration and taking the time to listen and connect with me and all of the Governor's Office interns. Big thank yous to Madeline Pawlak (Maddy!), Leah Woody, M.A. Mike Thomas, and Pokuaa Owusu-Acheaw for welcoming me to their team with open arms and open minds. An extra special thank you to my mentor, Sandeep Boppana, for always ensuring that I was a part of the best experiences and that I have a flexible work-life balance this summer. Thank you all for the endless support and encouragement that you’ve given me over these past couple of months

I also want to thank Hannah Schmitz and Lydia Sannella for facilitating the Maryland Public Service Scholars Program this summer. I’ve learned so much about myself and public service because of all the hard work that you do.